Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I wish to make it clear that it has been Fine Gael policy for a long time to establish a Garda reserve as support and back-up for the Garda Síochána, but my concern is that the ham-fisted approach of the Minister in the introduction of a Garda reserve may have damaged the successful implementation of the scheme. He has totally failed to engage the principal stakeholders — that is, those on the frontline, the members of the Garda Síochána — in the development of the proposals.

I met the presidents, vice presidents and general secretaries of both the main organisations, the Garda Representative Association and Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors early last week and made it clear to them that I was in favour of the idea but that I wanted to know their concerns. Their main concern, to which the Minister must respond, was the lack of prior consultation. They were very aggrieved that there had been no consultation whatsoever with them on the development of these proposals, what would be successfully operational and what would be the main obstacles. After all, they are on the frontline and they believed they should have had an input.

They also felt there was a serious breach of trust on the part of the Minister in that they understood from discussions with him at the time of the introduction of the Bill that this was purely an enabling measure and that it would not be introduced in the lifetime of this Government or the next one, at least while Deputy McDowell was Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. They were absolutely clear on that and felt betrayed by what had happened in the meantime.

The third issue they raised was the powers of any such force and, as the Minister knows, I am in agreement with them in this regard. They were very concerned that while on duty, members of such a force would have full powers of arrest, some of which the Minister detailed. I have major concerns that a volunteer reserve force would have powers beyond the powers of arrest available to any citizen. My approach would be that they would operate totally under the supervision and direction of the Garda Síochána.

Other areas, such as vetting, discipline etc. can be discussed but these are three principal issues arising from those meetings. What is the Minister's reaction to my comments and, in particular, to those three major issues which arose in my discussions with the representatives of the GRA and the AGSI?

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